1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an airless paint spray gun wherein the tip guard, having a spray tip associated therewith, may be selectively rotatably moved 90° with respect to the spray gun frame, without loosening the retaining nut of the tip guard, to change the spray pattern of the spray tip from a vertical pattern to a horizontal pattern and vice versa.
2. Description of the Related Art
Airless paint spray guns which are used in hydraulic paint spraying operations normally include a gun head or frame which is fluidly connected to a source of paint under pressure. The gun head has a discharge opening at its upper forward end from which pressurized paint is discharged when the trigger of the spray gun is depressed. A retaining nut housing or thread base is threadably mounted in the discharge opening of the gun head. The prior art spray guns also have a tip guard threadably secured to the thread base by a retaining nut. The tip guard includes a transversely extending tip which has an orifice associated therewith through which the paint is discharged. The tip guard includes a pair of diverging tip guard ears which extend outwardly and forwardly therefrom.
In the prior art devices, the tip guard may be only selectively rotated with respect to the frame of the spray gun when the retaining nut is loosened. The tip guard, when held in a first position, sprays paint in a vertical pattern. The tip guard, when held in a second position, sprays paint in a horizontal pattern.
In the prior art devices, when the painter desires to spray paint in a horizontal pattern rather than a vertical pattern or vice versa, the painter must take his/her hand, which is not holding the spray gun, to loosen the retaining nut, rotate the tip guard 90° and then tighten the retaining nut. If the tip guard is not rotated 90°, the spray pattern will not be the desired spray pattern.
The only alternative in the prior art spray guns when shifting from a vertical spray pattern to a horizontal pattern or vice versa is for the painter to manually rotate the entire spray gun 90° to hold the gun at a 90° angle from the normal painting position.
If the painter is using the spray gun from a ladder, the painter normally holds the spray gun in his/her right hand and grasps the ladder with his/her left hand. If the painter desires to change the tip guard from a vertical spray pattern to a horizontal spray pattern or vice versa, the painter must loosen his/her left hand from the ladder and then loosen the retaining nut, rotate the tip guard 90° and then retighten the retaining nut. The above-described task is not only time consuming but is dangerous since the painter is not grasping the ladder during the time that the tip guard is being adjusted between the horizontal and vertical spray patterns.